“Do you go alone?”
“Often,” Evie said. “It is safer if I only have to worry about myself.”
Glancing at the pile of gowns next to her on the bench, Georgie said, “I know you must think I am mad for selling my gowns anyway.”
“You don’t know what I am thinking.”
“How could you not?” Georgie asked. “I think a part of me just wants to sell them to defy Lord Grenton.”
“Why do you suppose that is?”
Georgie clasped her hands in her lap. “I was so angry when he told me I couldn’t go to the market. I could almost hear my brother’s voice telling me what to do.”
“But Lord Grenton isn’t your brother.”
“No, he is not,” Georgie said. “He may be stern, but I do believe he was trying to protect me, in his own way.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Georgie pressed her lips together before admitting, “I want to prove that I can take care of myself. My brother was so awful that I hid a part of myself away because it was safer. After a time, I forgot who I was and what I am capable of.”
“It is behind you,” Evie responded. “Your brother can’t hurt you now.”
“I know that I am in reduced circumstances, living at the orphanage, but I feel happier than I have in a long time.”
Evie perused her black gown. “Were you close with your father?”
“I was,” she replied. “He was a good father, and I loved him beyond words. But he became consumed with grief after my mother died and was never the same.”
“How did he die?”
“The doctor said his heart gave out on him. I believe it broke when Mother passed,” Georgie said. “My parents were truly devoted to one another, even to the grave.”
“That is the testament of a true love story.”
Georgie sighed. “My brother says that love is a weakness.”
“Do you agree?”
“No,” Georgie replied. “My parents’ love bonded our family together, despite my brother rebelling against it.”
Evie glanced over at the window, then asked, “Why did your brother rebel against it?”
“Charles never seemed to be happy with what he had,” Georgie said. “He always wanted more; demanded more, really. It was a source of conflict for our family.”
“Some people are never content with what they have because they are fighting a battle within themselves for what true happiness really is.”
Georgie hesitated before revealing, “Charles was expelled from Eton for beating another student so severely that he almost died.”
“How terrible!”
“It wasn’t the first time that he had gotten into fights with his classmates,” Georgie said. “He was a bully, and has a terrible temper.”
“Sounds like a perfect combination for trouble.”
“It was, and I was always mindful to avoid Charles when he was in a bad mood.”
Evie’s eyes held compassion. “Did he always hit you?”
